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estuaries

Estuaries – a context for learning

Teacher PLD

Estuaries – a context for learning

With 75% of New Zealanders living within 10 km of the coast, many students will be familiar with estuaries. In ...

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Awhi mai awhi atu – kuku restoration

Article

Awhi mai awhi atu – kuku restoration

Mātauranga Māori and science are helping to solve a few questions in Ōhiwa Harbour: What has caused the mussel beds to disappear? Can we restore the ...

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Learning from the Tangata Whenua

Article

Learning from the Tangata Whenua

This Connected article is based on an interview by Susan Paris with environmental scientist Dr James Ataria (Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Tūwharetoa). James’s work focuses on ...

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Wetlands

Article

Wetlands

Wetlands are ‘in between’ areas – they are permanently or intermittently wet areas on the margins of drier land or along the margins of water bodies ...

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Working together to restore the Ōngātoro/Maketū Estuary

Article

Working together to restore the Ōngātoro/Maketū Estuary

The Kaituna River flows through the Bay of Plenty, winding its way from Lakes Rotorua and Rotoiti to its outflow at Te Tumu. However, Te Tumu ...

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Testing the waters

Article

Testing the waters

This article recounts the conversation between Tane, his dad and the scientists they find testing the health of their local river. It looks at the information ...

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Ngā karangatanga matua mō te wai māori me ngā ika wai māori

Article

Ngā karangatanga matua mō te wai māori me ngā ika wai māori

Kei te rauemi nei ētahi whakamārama mō ngā karangatanga matua ka kitea i a koe e tūhura ana i ngā kōawa wai māori, i ngā awa ...

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Dynamic Seas

Article

Dynamic Seas

The seas surrounding New Zealand are complex. They are a connected and dynamic mix of chemical, physical and biological processes. The sheer size of the ocean ...

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Investigating marine and coastal tipping points

Article

Investigating marine and coastal tipping points

As New Zealanders, we love our oceans. Coastal and offshore waters are our playgrounds and sustain us spiritually and economically. As a nation, we want this ...

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Ecosystem tipping points and stressors

Article

Ecosystem tipping points and stressors

Simply defined, a tipping point is the point when a number of changes or incidents become significant enough to cause a large change in the way ...

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Freshwater and freshwater fish – key terms

Article

Freshwater and freshwater fish – key terms

This resource provides explanations of the key terms encountered when exploring freshwater streams and rivers and native fish. This resource is intended to be used alongside ...

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Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge

Article

Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge

The sea is our taonga. Our connections to it are strong. More than 75% of New Zealanders live within 10 km of the coast, and the ...

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Looking at ecosystem-based management (EBM)

Article

Looking at ecosystem-based management (EBM)

The Sustainable is for New Zealand to have healthy marine ecosystems providing value for every New Zealander. It has seven research programmes, and each programme supports ...

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Protecting estuaries

Article

Protecting estuaries

Estuaries are extremely valuable. They: are nurseries – breeding grounds for fish and birds maintain the health of coastal fisheries and waters are a buffer between ...

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Valuing estuaries

Article

Valuing estuaries

In the past, many New Zealanders have not understood the value of estuaries. Many European settlers initially viewed estuaries as unproductive wastelands. Land was reclaimed for ...

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Human impact on estuaries

Article

Human impact on estuaries

People like to live near estuaries. In pre-European times, estuaries were favourite places for Māori to gather – particularly to harvest and enjoy kaimoana. Today, there ...

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Life in the estuary

Article

Life in the estuary

Estuaries connect land and sea. They are partly enclosed bodies of water situated at the edge of the land – a mixture of freshwater from streams ...

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Estuary formation

Article

Estuary formation

Estuaries have a life cycle. They form, they age as they infill with sediment and they transform to other environments, such as freshwater marshes. They are ...

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New Zealand’s National Science Challenges

Article

New Zealand’s National Science Challenges

As New Zealanders looking to the future, we are faced with many opportunities – and challenges. These include improving the health of all our people, advancing ...

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Dr Andrew Swales

Article

Dr Andrew Swales

/imPosition: Principal Scientist – NIWA Coasts and Estuaries, Freshwater. Field: Coastal and Estuarine Physical Processes. Andrew Swales is a scientist and group manager with NIWA. His ...

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Human impacts on the Bay of Plenty

Article

Human impacts on the Bay of Plenty

Coastal marine ecosystems balance on a fine ecological edge. They are dynamic and can easily be disturbed by human impact such as contamination from pollution or ...

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Biodiversity in the Bay of Plenty

Article

Biodiversity in the Bay of Plenty

Biodiversity is short for biological diversity. It refers to the number and variety of living things (animals, plants or microorganisms) found within a particular area. There ...

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Habitats in the Bay of Plenty

Article

Habitats in the Bay of Plenty

Any group of living and non-living things interacting with each other can be considered as an ecosystem. Within ecosystems are habitats. A habitat is the natural ...

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Investigating life in the sea – writer insight

Article

Investigating life in the sea – writer insight

Cath Battersby Ever since I started working for the Science Learning Hub, I wanted to create a series of articles about the marine environment. In 2009, ...

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Investigating life in the sea – question bank

Article

Investigating life in the sea – question bank

An inquiry approach is a method often used in science education. This question bank provides an initial list of questions about life in the sea and ...

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